Weeralarm V.S. # 7 Extreem weer - Tornado touchdown

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The death toll from the tornadoes that hit the southern US this week has risen to 340, in one of the worst twister outbreaks in the country's history.

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U.S. tornadoes toll rises over 350, thousands homeless


(Reuters) - The death toll from the second deadliest U.S. tornado outbreak on record rose above 350 on Saturday as thousands of stunned survivors camped out in the shattered shells of their homes or moved into shelters or with friends.

With some estimates putting the number of homes and buildings destroyed close to 10,000, state and federal authorities in the U.S. South were still coming to terms with the scale of the devastation from the country's worst natural catastrophe since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

One disaster risk modeler, EQECAT, is forecasting insured property losses of between $2 billion and $5 billion from the havoc inflicted by the swarm of violent twisters that gouged through seven southern states this week.

The death toll in Alabama, the hardest-hit state, rose to 255 on Saturday, with at least 101 more deaths reported in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana.

"We're in the thousands of homes completely gone ... It's not an exaggeration to say that whole communities were wiped out," Yasamie August, spokeswoman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, told Reuters.

In many communities in the U.S. South, the scenes of destruction with tangled piles of rubble, timber, vehicles and personal possessions recalled the devastation seen in the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

Power and water were still out in many areas.

"It is like living in some other world. Devastation is everywhere," said Pastor John Gates of the United Methodist Church in Pleasant Grove, a community with a population of some 10,000 west of Birmingham, Alabama.

The death toll from the week's tornado outbreak, which is still expected to rise, was the second highest inflicted by this kind of weather phenomenon in U.S. history. In March 1925, 747 people were killed after tornadoes hit the U.S. Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

President Obama, mindful of criticism that President George W. Bush was too slow to respond to the 2005 Katrina catastrophe, visited the wrecked city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Friday to pledge full federal assistance for the states hit.

NEIGHBORHOODS "LAID FLAT"

Some of the twisters -- the winds of one in Smithville, Mississippi, was recorded reaching 205 miles per hour -- picked up people and cars and hurled them through the air.

Rescuers were still searching for bodies and those unaccounted for. But the total of missing was not clear.

Many whose homes only lost roofs and windows were camping inside with tarps and plastic sheeting over them, but those whose houses were completely razed were forced to move in with family or friends or go into government shelters.

"Most people are living in the parts of their houses that are still standing. But for some people, you can't even tell where their houses were. They are with family, friends or in hotels," said Gates, 63.

"We still have missing people to find," he added.

There were 659 people in shelters across Alabama, August said. Tennessee had 233 people in shelters.

As state and federal authorities increased efforts to clear rubble and provide food and water to homeless survivors, volunteers in many local communities also turned out to help the most affected.

"There's lots of commotion with big trucks coming in and the sound of chainsaws. Big grills are set up everywhere to offer people food. The community has really pulled together, said Tammy Straate, 29, a foster mother in Pleasant Grove who cares for 11 children ages 5-16.

"For blocks and blocks, everything is just laid flat," Straate added. "Our little community will never be the same. Some people say they are just not going to rebuild."

Tornadoes are a regular feature of life in the U.S. South and Midwest, but they are rarely so devastating.

Recovery could cost billions of dollars and even with federal disaster aid it could complicate efforts by affected states to bounce back from recession.

The tornadoes mauled Alabama's poultry industry -- the state is the No. 3 U.S. chicken producer -- halted a coal mine and hurt other manufacturers across the state.

The second-biggest U.S. nuclear power plant, the Browns Ferry facility in Alabama, may be down for weeks after its power was knocked out and the plant automatically shut, avoiding a nuclear disaster, officials said.

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Op zondag 1 mei 2011 01:03 schreef DemonRage het volgende:
"zandzakjes"

Dat ze het zo schrijven in het nieuws.

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Op zondag 1 mei 2011 12:34 schreef Drassss het volgende:

[..]

http://www.reuters.com/ar(...)dUSTRE73T2AO20110430

Helaas klopt het niet.

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A second tornado from Wednesday's horrific outbreak across the South has been classified as an EF-5 twister. Not since 1990 have two F5/EF-5 tornadoes touched down on the same day.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Memphis, Tenn., declared Friday morning that the violent tornado that ripped through Smithville, Miss., was an EF-5, the highest rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. This is the first EF-5 tornado to hit the U.S. since 2008 and the first to hit Mississippi since 1966.
The Smithville tornado killed at least 14 people. Peak winds were estimated at 205 mph. The twister's path was 2.82 miles long and up to half a mile wide.
On Saturday, the NWS also indicated that damage from the tornado that struck Hackleburg, Ala., and other parts of Marion county was consistent of an EF-5 twister. At least 25 people were killed in this tornado.
Wednesday is the first day that two EF-5 (labeled F5 before 2007) tornadoes have touched down on the same day since March 13, 1990. Kansas was the site of those two F5 tornadoes in 1990.
According to a preliminary report from the NWS office in Huntsville, Ala., Friday night, the tornado that tore through Alabama's western DeKalb County was listed as an EF-4 with maximum winds of 175 mph. The tornado remained on the ground for 33 miles and killed at least 32 people.
The tornado that killed seven people in Catoosa County, Ga., has been rated an EF-4, according to the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, Ga. Since 1950, there have only been eight other EF-4 tornadoes that have touched down in Georgia.
The Tuscaloosa-Birmingham, Ala., tornado that killed more than 65 people has also been rated an EF-4, but the NWS indicated that the ranking could increase upon further inspection of the damage.
Wednesday is the deadliest tornado day in the United States since March 18, 1925, when 747 people lost their lives.

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Since the storms will fire near a frontal boundary, a few tornadoes cannot be ruled out. The tornado threat will be much more limited compared to last week's deadly outbreak, though it takes just one twister moving over a populated area to cause severe damage.

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Op zondag 1 mei 2011 20:09 schreef Frutsel het volgende:
Is dit nu erger dan in 1974 ?

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Remarkable video of the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Beginning at about 2:30 into the video, one can see the ominous mini-vorticies and cloud of debris that encircled the tornado.

Tuscaloosa Tornado - Unedited Raw Version - 4/27/11